Black trim coating?

It's a paint.
I used "Black-out" #910-8 by Morton Paint Co.
It is self-priming, satin black finish for chrome, stainless and aluminum.

It gives a very similar finish to powder coating.

Hi Brian,

All the trim around the glass on your 78 car is stainless steel. Assuming it is still attached to the car, you will have to remove the windscreen in order to get it out. Dont make the mistake of pulling the trim out of the rubber with the windscreen still in the car. This will bend the end of the trim and then when you go to reinstall it you will find it will not sit down tight in the corners. Once the whole thing is out of the car, you should be able to get the trim out quite easily. If you have trouble, sacrifice the rubber with a knife.

If your trim is already bent, there is only one way to straighten it. Cut little slits into the inner lip (the bit that goes into the rubber) with a 1mm thick cutting disc and then weld it. It is not possible to do it with a mechanical shrinker because there is a folded lip to hold it into the rubber.

To put the screen back in you put the rubber onto the glass and then put the trim into the rubber and install it as one piece. Dont try to install the trim after the screen is in the car.

Now for the trim surrounding the door frame. There are 2 ways of doing this, one is to paint it while it is still attached to the door frame. This is a pain in the ass because it requires masking off the entire car. The other is to drill out the little rivets and very carefully pop the trims on the frame (this is how I did it).

The rear quater light windows will also have to be removed much like the windscreen. These come out of the rubber without much trouble.

The grills behind the rear quater lights are held in place by one 6mm bolt and pins pressed into plastic receptacles. Once the nut is off, you will be able to pull or prise it off.

I do not recommend powder coating for any of these parts. Mainly because is it lumpy and thick looking, and it's hard to find a powder coater that can create a true satin finish. They normally end up glossy.

I always use a satin black cellulose (nitro-cellulose lacquer) shot with an HVLP gun. I add a bit of matting agent if it looks to shiny. We can still buy cellulose over here, but I am sure you can't in the USA.
It is possible to achieve a true satin finish with a 2 part paint, but I do not know who would supply this in the US. Someone on this forum will probably know.

I block sanded between coats to get it completely flat. I also made a mini sanding block to sand between the ribs on the grills. You may not want to go this far.

You can strip the original paint with paint stripper and then scuff it up with 400 grit paper. Or have it lightly media blasted. I lightly blasted mine and then used an acid etch 2 part primer. This is essential to stick to the stainless.

Johnny

I have the trim pieces out already but I thought the coating was maybe black chrome. The original coating does not come off like paint. There are not many places around me that do black chrome so I was hoping to confirm this before a 6 hour drive there and back. Agreed, powder coating would look too thick.
It would be nice to know what was on these parts originally.

When I had mine off and showed them to my painting mentor, he said it appeared to be black chrome.

I ended up stripping mine, sanding them and used a Dupont satin black. The came out fine and are holding up great.

The trim paint is special stuff. It doesn't peel. It is very thin after applied.
You do not need to remove the trim to paint it.
You need to remove only the loose paint that is on the trim now.
Then you use laquer thinner to remove the wax.
Then just apply the pain on the trim already installed on the car.
Don't worry about scratches. It is very easy to touch up. It can be done with an airbruch.

It sounds like you are overcomplicating things. Do it the easy way which in this case is the easy way.

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
...I used "Black-out"...

him too

You know, I think it's the same stuff?

I had forgotten about the black chrome. I think this was original although my 74 GTS was painted or powder coated so I don't know when they started doing it.
Have a look at a car with the black chrome before you commit to having your done. I have never liked it. In some lights it looks purple and it will not match the finish on your grills.

As your trims are out of the car, lay them against the windscreen with the rubber removed to see if the ends have been bent. It should match the contour of the glass perfectly.

Johnny

The shops that I know of here that were doing black chrome dropped it. 1) it isn't black, 2)it turns all sort of funkie colors like purple, to name one.

It isn't a good alternative.

Doug,

Where did you buy it. I looked at their web site and they don't show that part number. They do have a #910-13 low gloss self etching black-out trim finish.

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
It's a paint.
I used "Black-out" #910-8 by Morton Paint Co.
It is self-priming, satin black finish for chrome, stainless and aluminum.

It gives a very similar finish to powder coating.

I used trim paint by SEM. Spray black primer 2 coats and black satin two coats. Looks great, going on 4 years! be sure to clean the trim very well! Clean and clean again before you start.
Good Luck

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cat7195:
Doug,

Where did you buy it. I looked at their web site and they don't show that part number. They do have a #910-13 low gloss self etching black-out trim finish.

Dan


I asked my auto paint supplier for trim black out paint and gave me this.
Mine is satin black. That probably explains the different number.
Maybe mine is discontinued because it causes brain damage?

Did you scuff the trim first with something like a green pad?

quote:

Originally posted by cuvee:
I used trim paint by SEM. Spray black primer 2 coats and black satin two coats. Looks great, going on 4 years! be sure to clean the trim very well! Clean and clean again before you start.
Good Luck

Yes I did. I did it on the the car. Took my time to mask off everything (boy that took some time) It came out great. I got the SEM paint at the local auto paint store. Or you can get it online.

quote:

Originally posted by cat7195:
Did you scuff the trim first with something like a green pad?

quote:

Originally posted by cuvee:
I used trim paint by SEM. Spray black primer 2 coats and black satin two coats. Looks great, going on 4 years! be sure to clean the trim very well! Clean and clean again before you start.
Good Luck